National Overseas Scholarship Scheme

The Scheme of ‘National Overseas Scholarship Scheme for OBC candidates’ has been renamed as ‘Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loan for Overseas Studies for OBC’ wherein the interest subsidy will be provided to the OBC students on the interest payable for the period of moratorium for the educational loans availed by them from the Banks to pursue approved courses of studies abroad at Masters and Ph.D level.

The Scheme is:

Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies for the Students belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs)

1. Background

The scheme of Interest Subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies will promote educational advancement of student from Other Backward Classes.

2. Objective

The objective of the scheme is to award interest subsidy to meritorious students belonging to Other weaker sections of the society so as to provide them better opportunities for higher education abroad and enhance their employability.

3. Scope

The is a Central Sector Scheme to provide interest subsidy to the student belonging to the OBCs on the interest payable for the period of moratorium for the Education Loans under the Scheme of Interest subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies to pursue approved courses of studies abroad at Masters and Ph.D level.

4. Conditions for Interest Subsidy

i. The Scheme is applicable for higher studies abroad. The interest Subsidy shall be linked with the existing Educational Loan Scheme of Indian Banks Association (IBA) and restricted to students enrolled for course at Masters, M.Phil and Ph.D level.

ii. The interest subsidy under the scheme shall be available to the eligible students only once, either for Masters or Ph.D levels. Interest subsidy shall not be available to those students who either discontinued the course mid-stream due to any reason, or those who are expelled from the institutions on disciplinary or academic grounds.

iii. If a student violates any condition of the scheme, the subsidy will be discontinued forthwith.

iv. If a student is found to have obtained the subsidy by false statement/certificates, the subsidy will be withdrawn/ cancelled forthwith and amount of the subsidy paid shall be recovered with penal interest, apart from taking criminal action as per law.

v. The students obtaining benefits under this Scheme shall not be given the interest subsidy if he gives up Indian citizenship during the tenure of the loan.

vi. The designated bank will maintain a separate account and records relating to the funds received from the Ministry and these will be subject to inspection/audit by the officers of the Ministry, or any other agency designated by the Ministry and C&AG.

vii. The designated Banks shall place all relevant details of financial and physical achievements on its website and implement the scheme as per the Memorandum of understanding to be signed between the designated Banks and NBCFDC on behalf of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

viii. The designated Banks will lay down the detailed procedure for processing and sanctioning of interest subsidy to eligible students in consultation with NBCFDC.

ix. The Scheme will be evaluated at regular intervals by the Ministry or any other agency designated by the Ministry and the cost of the evaluation study will be borne by the Ministry.

x. The term and conditions of the Scheme can be changed at any time at the discretion of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to improve procedure and achieve more effective implementation. However, there should not be financial implications.

5. Eligibility

i. The students should have secured admission in the approved courses at Masters, M.Phil or Ph.D levels abroad for the courses listed at Para14.

ii. He/She should have availed loan from a scheduled bank under the Education Loan Scheme of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) for the purpose.

6. Income Ceiling

i. Total income from all sources of the employed candidate or his/her parents/guardians in case of unemployed candidate shall not exceed Rs.3.00 lakh per annum.

ii. Under this Scheme, Income certificate produced by the student for availing Educational Loan viz. ITR/Form 16/Audited Accounts/Income certificate issued by the authority of State Government/UT Administration is acceptable to determining Income ceiling.

iii. The OBC Caste certificate in the prescribed Performa (as per Annexure) issued by the competent authority must be taken by the Banks.

7. Recommendatory Committee

i. Recommendatory Committee headed by Joint Secretary in-charge of Backward Classes Division with representatives of Finance Division, representative of Nodal Bank and concerned Director/Deputy Secretary as convener will examine and recommend the applications for award of interest subsidy on quarterly basis.

ii. 50% Interest Subsidy will be given to the girl candidates.

8. Rate of Interest Subsidy

i. Under the scheme, interest payable by the students availing the education loans of the IBA for the period of moratorium (i.e. course period, plus one year or six months after getting job, whichever is earlier) as prescribed under the Education Loan Scheme of the IBA, shall be borne by the Government of India.

ii. After the period of moratorium is over, the interest on the outstanding loan amount shall be paid by the student, in accordance with the existing Educational Loan Scheme as may be amended from time to time.

iii. The candidate will bear the Principal installments and interest beyond moratorium period.

9. Implementing Agencies

The Scheme will be implemented by the designated Banks as per MoU between the Banks and the NBCFDC on behalf of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

10. Administrative Expenses

i. A provision not exceeding 2% of the annual budget allocation for the scheme will be made to meet the administrative and allied costs viz. expenditure for office equipments, including computers and accessories, advertisements, engagement of personnel, third party evaluation etc.

ii. This provision will also be used for evaluation and monitoring of the scheme, through outside reputed institutions/agencies engaged by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. Administrative cost of the Banks will be shared as per provision in the MoU.

11. Monitoring and Transparency

i. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment shall monitor the performance of the scheme.

ii. For this purpose, a web enabled monitoring mechanism shall be put in place by designated Banks.

iii. The designated Banks will be required to furnish quarterly financial and physical progress reports to the Ministry.

iv. The designated Banks will maintain year-wise details of the students receiving scholarship, indicating institute, location of the institute, course, gender, new or renewal, permanent address and parents address.

v. Designated Banks will place relevant physical and financial details on their official website.

12. Minor Modifications/Changes

Minor Modifications/Changes in the Scheme with no financial implications may be made by the Competent Authority.

13. Evaluation

The monitoring of the financial and physical performance of the scheme will be periodically evaluated by the assigning evaluation/impact studies to reputed institutions/agencies by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.

* Subject may be deleted or added by the Ministry from time to time as situation demands.

Under this revised Scheme, the number of courses covered has been increased from 4 to 42 subjects.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.

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Financial Assistance to Parents of Differently Abled

This Ministry has no scheme to provide financial assistance to parents of mentally retarded children for their upbringing.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.

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Helpline for Alcoholic/Drug Addicts

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched a National Toll Free Helpline No. (1800-11-0031) to assist people with regard to prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, on 7th January, 2015. This helpline runs on Monday to Saturday from 9:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.

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Conviction Under SC/ST Act

As per the data of the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, the following table indicates all India position for years 2011-2013, in regard to percentage of cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities{PoA}Act, 1989, ending in conviction as well pending in courts:-

Year

% of :

Conviction

Pendency

2011

30.0

79.9

2012

23.8

83.1

2013

22.8

84.1

The above table whereas indicates a marginal variation in the pendency rate and a decline in the conviction rate during 2011-2013.

S. No.

States/Union Territories

Year

Percentage of cases under the PoA Act:

Ending in conviction

Pending in courts

1.

Andhra Pradesh

2011

11

64.8

2012

8.2

62.2

2013

6.6

64.4

2.

Arunachal Pradesh

2011

76.2

92.3

2012

50

96.4

2013

0

100

3

Assam

2011

4.9

85

2012

3.9

70.7

2013

0

21.0

4

Bihar

2011

10.9

83.7

2012

12.5

85.7

2013

12.8

90.1

5.

Chhattisgarh

2011

29.8

75.2

2012

34.1

57.7

2013

34.7

82.8

6.

Goa

2011

0

77.8

2012

0

92.3

2013

0

92.9

7.

Gujarat

2011

2.4

92.8

2012

7.5

91.3

2013

2.8

88.4

8.

Haryana

2011

13

68.4

2012

7.9

61.4

2013

14.6

60.5

9.

Himachal Pradesh

2011

5.9

84.3

2012

8.6

81.8

2013

17.0

83.1

10.

Jharkhand

2011

25.2

74.7

2012

25.8

76.2

2013

31.0

72.9

11.

Karnataka

2011

6.7

79.4

2012

4.6

80.4

2013

3.3

76.0

12.

Kerala

2011

9.8

87

2012

6.0

89

2013

10.2

87.6

13.

Madhya Pradesh

2011

29.7

76.7

2012

36.6

77.4

2013

30.9

78.8

14.

Maharashtra

2011

5.4

88.2

2012

6.2

89.3

2013

6.3

90.7

15.

Manipur

2011

0

0

2012

0

100

2013

100

66.7

16.

Meghalaya

2011

0

0

2012

0

0

2013

0

0

17.

Mizoram

2011

0

0

2012

0

0

2013

0

0

18.

Nagaland

2011

0

0

2012

0

0

2013

0

0

19.

Odisha

2011

8.9

84.4

2012

7.1

83.7

2013

5.3

87.0

20.

Punjab

2011

20.9

81.3

2012

13.9

80.3

2013

17.6

69.3

21.

Rajasthan

2011

41.1

82.8

2012

38.3

93.2

2013

45.7

87.5

22.

Sikkim

2011

77.8

42.9

2012

61.5

55.2

2013

66.7

23.1

23.

Tamil Nadu

2011

36.6

78.5

2012

17.4

83.4

2013

12.6

82.0

24.

Tripura

2011

11.8

69.6

2012

14.6

70.9

2013

0

82.3

25.

Uttar Pradesh

2011

59

74.6

2012

51.4

84.7

2013

54.0

87.0

26.

Uttarakhand

2011

61.9

76

2012

53.3

69.6

2013

46.8

63.0

27

West Bengal

2011

0

91.5

2012

4

92.1

2013

2.3

90.4

28.

A & N Islands

2011

0

100

2012

0

100

2013

100

90

29.

Chandigarh

2011

0

100

2012

0

75

2013

0

75

30.

D & N Haveli

2011

0

100

2012

0

87.5

2013

0

92.9

31.

Daman & Diu

2011

0

100

2012

0

0

2013

0

0

32.

Delhi

2011

21.4

77

2012

35.7

80

2013

0

90.1

33.

Lakshadweep

2011

100

0

2012

0

0

2013

0

0

34.

Puducherry

2011

50

86.7

2012

50

88.2

2013

0

93.8

All India

2011

30

79.9

2012

23.8

83.1

2013

22.8

84.1

Note:- The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 does not extend to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The conviction rate may be influenced by several factors like witnesses turning hostile, belated prosecution, loss of interest by the victim and witnesses due to long delay in completion of trial, absence of corroborative evidence.

The PoA Act is implemented by the concerned State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. With a view to ensure effective implementation of provisions of the Act, Central assistance is provided to States/Union Territories, which includes strengthening of the enforcement machinery, incentive for inter caste marriages and awareness generation.

This Ministry has been addressing them to implement provisions of the Act in letter and spirit, with specific emphasis on setting up of exclusive special courts for speedy trial of cases, sensitization of investigating officers, mass awareness programmes, review of cases ending in acquittal. Ministry of Home Affairs has also been advising them, inter-alia, regarding steps that need to be taken to afford a greater measure of protection to SCs and STs.

A Committee under the Chairpersonship of Union Minster for Social Justice & Empowerment which was constituted in the year 2006, also reviews implementation of the Act in State/UTs. The Committee has so far held twenty one meetings wherein implementation of the Act in 24 States and 4 Union Territories has been reviewed.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.